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How Racist is America and How Is This Used and Perpetuated?
I have been saving this photo and racist email for awhile as I suspected that America is more racist than it appears, especially in areas where the racism is no longer overt. Now a new study proves my point. America is still a very racist country. This includes a shockingly large percentage of Democrats and Independents.
Here are some of the findings:
The poll sampled 2777 white Americans and was done by AP-Yahoo News, conducted with Stanford University. One third of white Democrats harbored negative views toward blacks and 40% had at least a partially negtive view (harbored at least one presented negative). This could mean 2-1/2 percentage points who might not vote for Obama, according to the analysis, enough to swing a close race away from him. They also used a model to predict that Obama's support would be at least 6% higher if not for the racism.
Obama was nominated on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, in a nation that enshrined slavery in its Constitution. Bush is unpopular, as is the war, and McCain is old and unqualified. We are going through hard times. 70% of Democrats support Obama, 85% of Republicans support McCain, though there are now more Democrats. Independents may decide the election.
Republicans surveyed were prejudice, but also wouldn't vote for any Democrat, white, black, brown or any other color. Some Democrats also penalize Obama because they value experience over change (mostly older voters.) At least a portion of them planned to vote for McCain. More whites did say good things about blacks than negative. Obama's support among blacks is nearly unanimous.
The poll used a telephone interview and also recorded peoples' responses to black or white faces flashed on a computer screen and apply adjectives to them. Frequently used words inccluded "violent" and "lazy" and "irresponsible." More than a quarter of white Democrats agreed that "if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites." More than a third of Independents used such negative terms and characterizations. More than half of whites combined revealed more negative feelings toward blacks than whites. 59% of Clinton's white backers wanted Obama for President and nearly 17% planned to vote for McCain.
The survey was conducted Aug. 27 to Sept. 5. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
Here is a circulating WINGNUT EMAIL & also a picture that was sent to my uncle. Anyone with intelligence KNOWS the racist stereotypes are flawed because there is such a thing as "white privilege" - ie., there is a strong history of exclusion on the basis of race and a continuing power discrepancy in favor of white people, albeit rich white people. That is not to say that minorities and poor white people are not pitted against each other for the benefit of the rich white people, and opening up the Guns, Gods and Gays wedge by the conservative candidates plays directly into this. They are then free to accuse others of being racist and sexist (or unpatriotic) when it is patently ridiculous. It is one of the oldest forms of propaganda, used successfully by Hitler, for example. Slugbug
Proud To Be White (smear email that is popular in America)
Someone finally said it. How many are actually paying attention to this? There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc......And then there are just - Americans. You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You Call me 'White boy,' 'Cracker,' 'Honkey,' 'Whitey,' 'Caveman,' .....And that's OK. But when I call you Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink, .....You call me a racist. You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live? You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Hispanic History Month. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Asian History Month. You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi. You have Yom Hashoah. You have Kawanza. You have the NAACP. And you have BET. If we had WET (White Entertainment Television).....We'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day.....You would call us racists. If we had White History Month.....We'd be racists. If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives,.....We'd be racists. We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that? If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships.....You know we'd be racists. There are over 60 openly-proclaimed Black-only Colleges in the US, yet if there were 'White-only Colleges'.....THAT would be a racist college.
UPDATE:
I wanted to add a comment I received via email, with an important precaution about interpreting polls of this kind.
There is also a documented Reverse Bradley Effect.Wikipedia
This study relies on telephone contacts, and so disproportionately misses younger voters, who have cell phones only, and are far less racist than their elders.
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STATEMENT: You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you, so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?
ANSWER: Ghettos exist and are dangerous because of racism.
STATEMENT: If we had WET (White Entertainment Television).....We'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day.....You would call us racists. If we had White History Month.....We'd be racists. If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives,.....We'd be racists.
ANSWER: You do have it 365 days a year 24/7, so I guess that makes you a racist.
STATEMENT: There are over 60 openly-proclaimed Black-only Colleges in the US, yet if there were 'White-only Colleges'.....THAT would be a racist college.
ANSWER: Bingo, you win the prize. For years up into the 1970s there was "White-only Colleges in the US, OBVIOUSLY it is because of racism that Black Colleges were forced into existance. STOP BEING IN DENIAL. The DNA of the good old USA is racism.
On a little more positive note .. Obama is at the magic 50% for DKos tracking poll and for Gallup.
Also .. younger people are less racist and even older people are less racist than their predecessors.
To the person who commented - thanks for the rebuttal talking points.
ENCOURAGING Update from THE NATION
White Women Shift, Giving Obama the Lead
One week ago, after the Republican National Convention had nominated John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Republican ticket enjoyed a 53-34 lead among white women over Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden, according to polling conducted for CBS and the New York Times.
What a difference a week can make.
The new CBS/New York Times poll has the Biden-Obama ticket leading among white women by a 47-45 margin.
That's a 13 point jump for the Democrats, and it has radically shifted the character of the race for the presidency.
Where a week ago, the average of national polls had the McCain-Palin ticket leading by almost three points, the Obama-Biden ticket is now up by two points.
And the momentum is entirely in the Democratic direction.
Consider the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.
One week ago, the Gallup had the Republicans ahead 48-44.
Now, the Democrats are up 48-44.
Translation: Obama, who has been gaining a point in the polls each day since Monday -- the day when the economy became the issue -- has reversed McCain's lead.
The Gallup Survey is not an anomaly.
The aforementioned CBS/New York Times poll has Obama up by five points. That means that, in this survey, Obama now enjoys the same level of support he did immediately after the Democratic National Convention.
The new Quinnipiac poll, echoing the Gallup and CBS surveys, puts Obama up by four points overall.
In each survey, the movement to the Democrats is most dramatic among white women -- the group that Sarah Palin was supposed to be drawing into the Republican camp.
What's up with Palin? The governor's overall favorable rating has fallen to just 40 percent in the CBS/New York Times survey -- down four points from last week. Palin's unfavorable rating is up 8 points to 30 percent. But the shift is even more dramatic among women, with whom Palin's star has fallen 11 points in one week.
MY Speculation:
NOW .. Markos Daily Tracking poll has Obama hitting the MAGIC 50 and so does today's GALLUP.
Remember this country is racist AND sexist and you can't assume women will back another woman just because she's a woman especially on health, education and economy OR sending offspring to war.
Palin negatives and Obama positives from socalled "while women" are thus not so surprising.
I have been concerned about this since Obama took the lead in Democratic primaries. I know that this is still a very racist society. I see it all around. If he can pull out a victory I think it will be really bcause of mcain/Palin/neocons errors/misteps. I am saddened by the racism I see in the 60-80 year olds.
I believe that the generally uncounted younger voters will make an enormous impact on this election. I absolutely refuse to take notice of the crap that has been circulating about how Palin gave a huge boost to McCain's campaign.
She did. Before people realised how utterly extremist she is on EVERY issue. Conducting governmnet business on a yahoo email address must surely give people pause.
Palin, every time she opens her mouth, shows just how ignorant she is on this 3rd millenium attitudes amongst the world's people. She will keep the extremists and racists amongst the voters. But they were never Obama-Biden's to begin with.
I feel confident that the world will change for the better.
There is an interesting diary on DKos from a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/7/154846/6842
about racism and the election written by a black woman. Worth the read.
On another note:
My friend's white 70+ yr. old mom lives in Ohio, and she and her republican women friends are tickled with...OBAMA....
They think he's good looking
They think he's clean cut
And it makes them feel excited and young to be voting for someone who they know their mothers wouldn't have approved of.
And they hate McCain.
Whether these are good reasons to vote for someone is questionable, but I'm glad they like him!!
Carol - I LOVE your friend's mom!! And her Obama voting women friends too. That is hilarious. I hope that I'm still doing things my mum wouldn't have approved of when I'm their age. Some excellent constituents there for Obama. Tell them they will be renowned in Australia - well, in my little circle for sure - for their opposition to the status quo.
They are beautiful!
Please don't forget that in the "racist white" category, we MUST also include nonwhites who consider themselves white equivalents, and act just like racist whites.
I know them too well back in the States. And over here in South Korea, the government and the ruling party are the perfect example of this as well - pumping tons of money into the US Republicans, and treating Southeast Asian migrant workers like dirt while treating white Americans/Europeans like royalty.
america as a whole is not a racist country, but americans are incredible tolerant towards racism. as someone who has traveled around the world, i find there to be little difference between democrat and republican. it really doesn't surprise me that democrats would be racist, because after all, they are american. growing up america, i was never really taught that racism was wrong. in fact, many of my teachers had racist views and would make racist jokes. i myself was a racist until my mid 20s until i realised that if i wanted equality for myself, i had to show the same respect towards others. it doesnt matter if theyre gay, jewish, or handicapped. i have had many unpleasant experiences around gays, but i know that i have to support their rights if i want rights for myself. i had to put aside whether i liked them or not.
what would be seen as an offence in many countries would be seen as freedom of speech in america. yes, folks, that is what they call racism in america, freedom of speech, but dont be confused. if you were to say that america was killing innocent people around the world and supporting evil dictators, you are not so free to say that. don’t even think about accusing u.s. soldiers of committing war crimes. however, if you want to say that blacks and mexicans are all on welfare, then you are more than free to say that. compared to other countries, america has a much louder racist voice. take a look at some of the racist sites out there. youll notice one thing they all have in common. they are either hosted by or owned by an american. the other side of this is people who challenge racism. they are pretty much non existant or very weak. if you make a racist joke in france, you are likely to find someone (white) who is deeply offended by it and will put you in your place and will contest you as if he/she was actually a member of a minority group. this does not happen in america. most americans will either agree with the racist statement, or laugh at it. while they may not actually make the racist statement themselves, they aren’t doing much to challenge it. it seems like most black americans are conditioned into accepting the racism, and because racism is so much a part of america, that people often don’t know that there is another way, or that there are societies that are less racist. of course this has a lot to do with america being an isolated country which is a whole other subject. many racists from around the world see the usa as a safe haven because while racism has been outlawed in their countries, racism thrives in america. many south africans who used to run the show in south africa are desperate to move to america because they know that their racist speech will be accepted and seen as freedom of speech. european racists who have been shunned in their own communities also see usa as a ray of light because many european communities have also outlawed racism and made many laws to combat it. many european racist websites have been shut down, only to resurface with american hosts.
Consumer safety is a priority of both Representative Tom Anderson of Dunedin and Senator Mike Fasano of New Port Richey. The legislators have both introduced legislation that will require assisted living facilities to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) on site. House Bill 945 by Representative Anderson and Senate Bill 2008 by Senator Fasano are both moving rapidly through their respective chambers. Facilities with 17 beds or more will be required to install an AED and are encouraged to register the location of the AED with local emergency services personnel. Users of an AED are protected from liability by Florida’s Good Samaritan Act. Representative Anderson has worked hard throughout his legislative career to make AED’s available in such areas as senior centers. Both he and Senator Fasano agree that assisted living facilities are ideal locations for an AED to help staff possibly save a life if someone goes into cardiac arrest.
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